My fave song: Light my Fire

If there are two relatively short-lived bands who, in spite of their short careers, had a big influence on American popular music in the glorious 60s, they are - at  least to my mind - the Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Doors. In a span of barely 6/7 years, both acts recorded some fantastic songs and albums that have lingered in the history of rock.

Indeed it's hard for me to choose just the one favourite song (or album for that matter) but recently, after many years, I listened once again to this particular one on BBC Radio in the velvety voice of a fantastic Puerto-Rican  artist who was very popular in Spain when I was a child: the extraordinarily gifted singer and guitar virtuoso - despite his blindness from birth - Jose Feliciano. I don't think many of you will be familiar with his name but I'm sure you will instantly recognize this tune:

Only years later, already a teenager in the early eighties, did I discover that Feliciano's splendid, critically acclaimed (it even won a Grammy in 1969) big-selling rendition of Light my Fire was actually a cover of one of the most popular and successful songs by The Doors, from his amazing namesake debut album released in 1967, a couple of years before Feliciano's cover:

Letra Light My Fire de Divididos

You know that it would be untrue
You know that I would be a liar
If I was to say to you
Girl, we couldn't get much higher
Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire
The time to hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
Try now we can only lose
And our love become a funeral pyre
Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire, yeah
The time to hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
Try now we can only lose
And our love become a funeral pyre
Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire, yeah
You know that it would be untrue
You know that I would be a liar
If I was to say to you
Girl, we couldn't get much higher
Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire
Try to set the night on fire
Try to set the night on fire
Try to set the night on fire

You know, to me this is one of those rare occasions when a cover version is as good - if not better - than the original. But however much I like Feliciano's Latin-tinged delivery and his brilliant guitar riff, I guess I'll stick to the original stuff anyway. I just love Jim's sexy, suggestive voice (sheer class!) and those beautiful, lengthy organ and electric guitar solos in the 7-minute plus single by Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger, respectively. I never ever get tired of listening to "Light my Fire", and I sing along whenever and wherever I hear it: at home, on my car's radio, in a pub ... There are a lot of stories behing this legendary song, like who wrote most of its words despite the fact that Jim Morrison, always a poet before a singer, was kind of the band's "official" lyricist. Or how the group had to cut down its play time to a mere 3 minutes so that it could be aired more often in US radio stations, as well as the controversy around their performance in the hugely popular Ed Sullivan Show, when Jim was asked not to sing the seemingly "infamous" line "Girl, we couldn't get much higher" because it sort of implied the use of drugs - of course he couldn't care less and did utter the explicit words in the end. But hey, better than told by myself, you can hear all these things in this enlightening 6-minute clip:

Very sadly, Jim Morrison had an untimely death (like many other rock legends before and after him) at only 27 years of age in Paris in 1971, but the songs he left, like this one here, are the best tribute to his memory. I do hope that you will enjoy Light my Fire, whether you didn't know The Doors or you've listened to them many times before. And also it will encourage you guys to share your own favorite songs!

The Film Corner: Rocio Sanchez - The Lost Valentine

A romantic story starring some charismatic famous actors, like Jennifer Love Hewitt, Betty White or Sean Faris, among others, "The Lost Valentine" is based on James Michael Pratt's homonymous novel, previously titled “The Last Valentine”.

The opening scene of the film is a sweet old woman, Caroline (Betty White), going to a train station on Saint Valentine’s day to wait for her beloved unforgettable husband, Neil, and some memories come to her mind, many years ago, in the same place: pregnant, she is saying goodbye to her husband, a naval aviator. We can see how Caroline gives Neil a heart, which means it’s her own, for him to keep all the time, and some words are written on it: “Now you have my heart, keep it next to yours and bring it safely back to me. I will always love you. Caroline”

Susan Allison (J L Hewitt), an experienced journalist who has just rejected her fiancé’s proposal, tries to speak with Caroline to hear the whole love story from her own lips. And just from this moment, Susan spends a lot of time with this woman and her grandson, Lucas (Sean Faris), a handsome smart young man.

As they have promised before, they write to each other to tell everything they do, and specially to know about her pregnancy. Every word Caroline says about their relationship is awesome, and even you can feel all that love.

Caroline gives birth to an amazing boy, and she sends a photo to her husband so that he always keeps it with him. Meanwhile, Susan and Lucas’s friendship is going increasingly better. 

Back to Caroline’s story, after some time without any news from Neil, one day she receives a letter saying that her husband is missing. Her only hope is that “missing does not mean dead”.

Every Saint Valentine’s day she goes to the train station to wait for Neil, it is like a tradition, which is why her story becomes popular.

The film deals with love and other related issues, like how long can love last? Forever? Does it depend on the lovers? Does it depend on their age? Who knows!

I really enjoyed watching this film, because, apart from the love story, it also has some awesome ideas, like risking your own life to save other people’s, or the uncertainty of knowing what happened to someone you loved, who everyone except you has forgotten. 

Sometimes the only thing we can believe in is hope, and if you strongly expect something to happen, it will.

Thanks Rocio! It's a month before St Valentine's Day but it's good to see that there are still some romantic young people like you around.  

Rebeca: HOW I MET MY ESTROGENUINAS

Hi everybody! Today you’re going to be witnesses to the story of ‘How I met my Estrogenuinas’. Chill out, guys, I’m not Ted Mosby (the protagonist of the TV series “How I met your mother”) and this won’t last seven seasons.

Myself on the drums!

But before wondering ‘How I met my Estrogenuinas’, you should know how I got into the world of music. Well, it was many years ago, fourteen to be precise, when I decided to start my music studies – to be fair, my parents decided it for me and it’s one of the greatest presents I’ve ever received from them - at Santa Cecilia, a music academy in Garrido – hey, you see, Garrido is not as bad a neighborhood as people say… we even have a music academy! We are creating artists!

The instrument that I chose was the marvelous flute. I can’t exactly tell you why I took this decision but I’m so glad I did … really you won’t believe how it changed my life, as this choice helped to intensify, even more, the love that I professed to music.

Once I ended my flute studies, I thought about pursuing my music career, so I decided to learn how to play a new instrument. I don’t know what kind of strange paranormal force entered my mind, but it had a voice that convinced me to choose the drums. I think I obeyed those chants because they were sung with a voice similar to this mesmerizing one from Green Day’s drummer, Tré Cool.

Green Day's Tré Cool

Really, I don’t know why the hell I picked out such a noisy big instrument. Nor did my mother, but you know, I think this choice was due to the ever so wise fate, because thanks to it, I was lucky to meet my beloved Estrogenuinas – here comes the crux of the yarn.

There is a fantastic rule in Santa Cecilia that forces you to join a class whose task is teaching you how a band works by making your own one. And guys, here was where I met one of my current best friends: Carolina, the girl who, a few months later, became Estrogenuinas’ bass player. Although I’ve been 14 years in Santa Cecilia, I still get lost, and Carol was the fantastic compassionate person who guided me to the class.

We hit it off as fast as punk legend Sid Vicious got on well with drugs – just joking, but this is true - and after a few weeks she asked me to join a punk band that she wanted to form with her twin, Ángela. The sinister force that made me choose the drums, also made me say ‘yes’ to her proposal immediately – God damn it! I didn’t even know how to play in a decent way, but I supposed that in a punk band it was not so important … well, I’ve never been so wrong!

The humble beginnings

I met Carol’s twin in a barbecue. The first thing I remember that Angela said to me was: ‘the hamburgers are very tasty’; I immediately predicted that I would love that brilliant girl. That event is said to be the beginning of Estrogenuinas because it sounds cool, as if we are an American band, right?

But Estrogenuinas was not complete until the precious María joined us. I met her in our first rehearsal, which took place at her garage. I didn’t have a drum kit so I improvised one by mixing a detergent bottle, a ladder and an old broken chair, we were so, so punk … Have you ever listened to ‘Las Vulpes’? Well, we were even worse!

And now, look at us! After lots of rehearsing we are … you know … well, we are not as bad as when we began. But at least we are better than ‘Las Vulpes’… or rather, we can say that we are halfway between ‘Las Vulpes’ and ‘The Clash’. In Salamanca, we are more famous than Jesus Christ … NO WAY!

This year is going to be the third anniversary of those “dog days”. Right now we are trying to record our grand EP ‘De Guijuelo a Wisconsin’ – if money allows us.

The "more glamorous" band today

Folks, nowadays Estrogenuinas have become one of my "Wonderwalls"proposition – the other two are B movies and ramen (= Japanese noodles, that is). It has totally changed my life. Estrogenuinas was the excuse which led me to know the true meaning of sacrifice, but above all to discover the true meaning of friendship.

Finally, this is a clip of one of our songs, called "Bïke Punx Fest". You can also read more about us on MySpace.

Thanks Rebecca, I've really enjoyed reading your "musical journey". I can only say it was great fun to see you and your mates live in concert at the CAEM in November, wasn't it Ana? We wish you and the band the best of luck! Who knows if one day you'll be touring the world with Estrogenuinas!